Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Richard Hatch (1945-2017)

I
was a literally starry-eyed five-year-old when I first saw Battlestar
Galactica upon its premiere in 1978.

For
the next year, I was rapt as I watched Commander Adama (Lorne
Greene), his son Captain Apollo (Richard Hatch), and Lieutenant
Starbuck (Dirk Benedict) lead a ragtag fleet of spaceships in search
of the lost thirteenth human colony, Earth.

Around
the same time, or maybe a little while after, I remember seeing Hatch
on the big screen in Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon
Queen.

In
the late 1990s, I had the good fortune, honor, and privilege of
interviewing Hatch by telephone for the IGN Sci-Fi Web site. At the
time, Hatch had written a couple of Battlestar Galactica novels
and produced a professionally made trailer for a potential sequel
series starring him and many veterans of the original show.

At
the end of the interview, I mentioned to Hatch that my mother was a
fan of his since his soap opera days. He immediately asked for my
mother’s name and address and promptly mailed her a personally
autographed black-and-white photograph of himself.

Thank
you, Mr. Hatch, for taking the time to talk to me, and also for your
graciousness.